American Idols dominate weekly sales charts

Sure, American Idol's going to rule the sales charts the week after the finale, but just how big a deal was it? Let's do the math.

American Idols held 43 of the top 200 places on Nielsen SoundScan's current digital tracks chart, including three spaces in the Top 10. Add the artists who appeared on the finale, and those figures climb to 48 out of 200 and four of the Top 10, including the Black Eyed Peas' Boom Boom Pow, the most-downloaded track (plus two other acts, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, who appeared earlier in the season).

Add all the Idol track sales together, and they easily pass 1.25 million downloads (that's nearly a quarter of the Top 200's combined sales). The Season 8 finalists alone approached a million downloads (910,000, if I did my math right).

Naturally, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert did the best. Adam even bested Kris on album downloads -- and he picked up nearly 10,000 downloads of his performance of Is Anybody Listening? from the musical The Ten Commandments. Danny Gokey's You Are So Beautiful and Allison Iraheta's Cry Baby also made the chart.

For more context, here's a press release 19 Entertainment serviced this morning:

(Los Angeles, CA – Thursday, May 28, 2009) They were the top two contestants on season eight of American Idol, but now winner Kris Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert have reached another milestone – domination of Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, with a combined nine debuts on the survey, topped by Kris’ recording of No Boundaries at No. 11.

Kris’ version of Heartless is the highest-charting recording of that song on this week’s chart. Kanye West’s original, which peaked at No. 2 earlier this year, falls to No. 48 and a cover version of the Fray that debuted last week at No. 79 falls off the list.

Adam’s interpretation of Mad World puts that classic song on the Hot 100 for the first time. Neither the original by Tears for Fears nor the remake by Gary Jules ever appeared on this chart.

Ain’t No Sunshine is back on the Hot 100 for the first time in 17 years. Kris has the most successful cover version of Bill Withers’ original, which peaked at No. 3 in 1971. Rapper Kid Frost recorded a version titled No Sunshine, which went to No. 95 in 1992.

Similarly, Adam’s remake of Sam Cooke’s classic civil rights song, A Change Is Gonna Come, is the highest-charting cover of that tune. The 5th Dimension included it in a medley that peaked at No 60 in 1970; Adam’s version marks the song’s first time back on the Hot 100 in 39 years. Cooke’s original peaked at No. 31 in 1964.

Adam’s take on U2’s One is also the highest-charting cover version of that song, besting the No. 86 peak of Mary J. Blige and Bono’s remake in 2006. The original peaked at No. 10 in 1992.

Kris’ version of the Oscar-winning Falling Slowly from the film Once is the first remake of that song to appear on the Hot 100. The original, by Glen Hansard and Marketa Inglova, debuted and peaked at No. 61 in March 2008.

Kris and Adam aren’t the only American Idols on this week’s Hot 100. David Cook debuts at No. 24 with Permanent, the song he performed on the series’ season finale. All proceeds from Cook’s live performance of the song are being donated to Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to finding a cure for brain cancer. Cook also re-enters the tally with Come Back to Me at No. 84.

Carrie Underwood also re-enters the chart, with her remake of Mötley Crüe’s Home Sweet Home, at No. 79. Carrie performed the song on the Tuesday night season finale show, and her recording was heard all through the season as a goodbye song for finalists who were voted off the show. Carrie is also at No. 68 this week with I Told You So, featuring Randy Travis.

Add in Kelly Clarkson, charting with her new single I Do Not Hook Up as well as its predecessor, My Life Would Suck Without You; Kellie Pickler, having a great run with Best Days Of Your Life; Daughtry, on the survey with No Surprise and Jordin Sparks, charting with her new single, Battlefield, and there are 18 American Idol songs on this week’s Hot 100.

Meanwhile, Kris and Adam are making their presence felt on other charts as well. Their respective Season 8 Performances collections, offered exclusively at iTunes, both debut on The Billboard 200 album chart. On Hot Digital Songs, the pair has 10 debuts, including three in the top 10. On the Adult Contemporary chart, Kris’ No Boundaries is a new entry at No. 27.

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About Brian Mansfield

Nashville-based Brian Mansfield began writing about music for USA TODAY in 1997 and took over Idol Chatter just before the start of Season 8. He co-authored Make Me a Star: Industry Insiders Reveal How to Make It in Music, and while he has never auditioned for American Idol, he did sing Boot Scootin' Boogie at Disney World's American Idol Experience the day the attraction opened (he lost). More about Brian | E-mail Brian